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University School takes third in Paul Meyer tournament

By Tom Geilfuss, USM Asst. Coach, 12/01/15, 8:00PM CST

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Wildcats defeat Germantown for consolation title

The University School boys’ hockey team took third place in the annual Paul Meyer Memorial Tournament held Friday and Saturday at USM.  On Friday the Wildcats lost to Middleton 4-1 in the opening round of the tournament.  In the consolation game Saturday afternoon, USM defeated Germantown 8-4.

The tournament is held each year in memory of Paul Meyer, a long time fan of USM hockey, who died on his way to watch his brother Eric play for USM in game in 2005.

In Friday’s non-conference contest, Middleton out shot USM by a 36-21 margin.  The Cardinals took the lead on a power play in the first period and added three goals in the second period before allowing the Wildcats their lone goal early in the third period.

“Tonight just wasn't our night against a very solid Middleton team,” said Jason Woods, USM’s head coach.  “I can't say enough good things about Middleton; they are a solid group with great leadership. We are still trying to find ourselves.  We are not a finished product by any means. Hopefully with some hard work, we can get to Middleton's level.”

The Cardinals scored the game’s first goal at 10:38 of the first period.  They set up in the USM zone on a power play.  The puck went to Justin Engelkes in the right circle.  He passed it through a seam to Nolan Kouba as Kouba moved toward the net in the left circle.  Kouba quickly one-timed a shot past USM’s goaltender Mac Schmidt.

The Cardinals took a substantial lead on three second-period goals.  The first of these was scored at 10:37.  Taking a faceoff in the USM end, Jordan Hylbert drew the puck back.  Engelkes skated off the boards, picked up the puck and rifled a shot into the USM goal.

Middleton made the score 3-0 at 13:12.  Hylbert was wide open in the slot.  He fired a hard blast off of Schmidt’s pads.  The rebound flew out to the top of the left circle to Kouba who wasted no time in shooting the puck into the goal.

The Cardinals increased their lead further in the final seconds of the second period.  Skating into the USM zone, Hylbert was checked off the puck. Davis Bunz hustled in and collected the puck.  Bunz skated in and buzzed a shot past Schmidt at 16:44.

The Wildcats scored their lone goal at 4:22 of the third period.  Forechecking in the Middleton end, Christian Blomquist got the puck along the right boards and passed it to defenseman Tommy Ferrara at the point.  Ferrara took a step in and then whizzed a wrist shot past Middleton’s goalie, Tony Wuesthofen.

In Saturday’s consolation game, USM out shot Germantown, 44-20.  After a close first period, which ended with USM holding a slim 3-2 lead, the Wildcats scored four unanswered goals in the second period to take a commanding lead that allowed them to skate to victory.  Jake Kandel and Nick Epperson and Charlie Mahoney each scored two goals for USM, while Brandon McGill and Logan Geisness added a goal apiece.

Germantown scored the game’s first goal in the first minute of the contest.  Ryan Ruona grabbed a loose puck behind the net stepped out and tried to stuff it in.  The puck rebounded off goaltender John Ostermeyer and went out front.  Germantown’s Trevor Herzberg fired it on net, and Ruona buried the rebound at 0:52.

The Wildcats soon tied the score.  During a power play, Christian Blomquist pulled the puck from a scrum along the right mid-boards in the Germantown zone, skated toward the net, saw McGill off the far post and past the puck to him.  McGill snapped it past Paul Perdzock, Germantown’s goalie at 5:02.

USM took the lead midway through the first period.  In the USM end, defenseman jersey Judge sent a breakout pass to Logan Geisness along the boards.  Geisness raced like a cheetah into the Germantown end and sent a crossing pass to Kandel at the left post.  Kandel one-timed a shot into the net at 9:12.

The Wildcats soon increased their lead.  Epperson got the puck on the mid-boards in the Germantown zone, passed it to Kandel behind the net, and took off for the crease.  Kandel returned the puck to Epperson, who gunned it off the pass into the net at 12:08.

Germantown closed the scoring gap on a power play as the period neared its end. Herzberg got a loose puck in the right corner of the USM end.  He passed it to Derek Anderson at the near point.  Anderson fired a slap shot past Ostermeyer at 15:35.

The Wildcats came out ready to play in the second period.  They scored their fourth goal early on.  Geisness got the puck in the right corner of the Germantown end and skated out and took a shot.  As a defenseman tried to clear the rebound from a jam in front of the net, Epperson, like a crafty pick pocket in a London crowd, took the puck away and quickly fired it past Perdzock at 1:30.

It wasn’t long before USM had a larger lead. Near the Germantown blue line, Andrew Malek got the puck and moved it down the right boards to McGill.  McGill skated behind the goal line and then out front.  He sent the puck to defenseman Charlie Mahoney who had moved into the far circle.  Mahoney’s slapper flew into the net at 2:42.

The Wildcats scored again while killing a penalty at 8:00. Judge got a loose puck behind the USM net and iced it.  Geisness hustled after a Germantown defenseman who went behind the Germantown net for the puck.  Geisness pulled the puck away, stepped out front and put a quick shot in to give USM a 6-2 lead.

During a five-on-three power play for USM, defenseman Tommy Ferrara got the puck near the point and sent it to Kandel in the left circle.  Like he was twiddling his thumbs outside a doctor’s examining room, Kandel waited and waited to see what would develop.  He saw an opening into the net and fired the puck there for the goal at 14:08.  Judge was also awarded an assist on the play.

The Wildcats scored their final goal at 3:38 of the third period.  Geisness took a shot near the crease.  The puck rebounded out to Charlie Mahoney at the left point.  Mahoney fired a low slap shot for the goal.

Germantown scored the final two goals of the game. Forechecking in the USM zone, Dan Hamilton fought for the puck in the corner Ethan Rentmeester, scooped it away, went behind the net and passed the puck to Josh Rusniak, who was unguarded in the slot.  Rentmeester quickly gunned a shot in at 8:07.

Hamilton, Rusniak and Rentmeester also combined for Germantown’s fourth goal. Hamilton got the puck behind USM’s net and passed it to Rusniak in the right corner.  Rusniak moved it out front to Rentmeester who one-timed a shot into the net to end the game’s scoring.

After the game Woods said, “Today was a good bounce back victory for us.  We were able to put some pucks in the net and played a dominant second period.  We played seven freshmen in the game tonight, so it was a great experience for them.  I am already looking forward to our first conference game vs. CMH/Brookfield Tuesday.”

USM is now 2-1 and 0-0 in the Classic Eight Conference.  The Wildcats begin their conference play wen they take on Brookfield/Catholic Memorial in a game at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1st at USM.